Product description

Layer Cake, a metaphor for the many murky layers of the criminal world, is set in modern day London and features smooth-talking and sophisticated drug dealer 'X' whose plan is to quietly bank-roll enough cash to retire young (early). Operating under the polished veneer of a legitimate businessman, his mantra is to keep a low profile and run a tight operation until it's time to get out. 'X' sees his opportunity to make a final score when crime boss, Jimmy Price, asks him to find the wayward daughter of rival crime boss, Eddy Ryder. He agrees to take the seemingly innocuous gig as his opportunity to get out of the business with the blessing from Jimmy Price. From the glitz of the London club scene to the underbelly of its criminal world, a dark, twisted thriller ensues.

Author information

J.J. Connolly was born and brought up in north-east London. His first published story was in the Brit Pulp! anthology. He is the author of acclaimed bestseller Layer Cake, which he adapted into a film script for Sony Pictures and director Matthew Vaughn. Viva la Madness, his second novel, is published in September 2011.

Review quote

"'Layer Cake is a storming piece of work... the novel has a grasp of street argot unparalleled since Kinky Friedman first sashayed out of his from door and nailed a checker straight out of the bat' - D. J. Taylor"